Victorian Pump House site in Eastbourne to become development of 100 council homes

Earlier this year, Homes England approved a bid of £7.622 million from Eastbourne Borough Council which was subject to the final tranche of £2.2m being approved.

In July, cabinet councillors approved work to progress the transformation of the old pumping station site in Bedfordwell Road, which unlocked enabling works and surveys to be undertaken to prevent any delays in construction if and when full funding is secured.

The Grade II listed Victorian Pump House, which will also be renovated for homes as part of the project, has already seen ‘significant remediation and decontamination’ with further activity including specialist groundworks, drainage and relocation of utility services still required. All ecology work has also been carried out.

The council also added that the project for the development of the new council homes in the town would be ‘the most significant council development in the borough for decades.’

Councillor Stephen Holt, Leader of Eastbourne Borough Council, said: “At a time when we are dealing with a homelessness crisis and unsustainable temporary costs, this is a real shot in the arm for everyone who cares about creating high-quality affordable homes for our residents to live in.

“I’m absolutely thrilled that this transformational council housing project is set to become a reality and I’m hugely grateful to all the dedicated officers who have played a part in getting us to this point.”

Councillor Peter Diplock, Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “With so few councils in the UK building affordable homes, it fills me with immense pride that Eastbourne is amongst the few that are.

“The old pumping station site has proved a tough nut to crack, not least because brownfield sites are complicated and costly to redevelop. However, despite years of dither and delay from the previous government, we now have all the funding in place. The affordable homes this development will deliver means this is the most significant one-off council development in the borough for decades.”